Fife community on a mission to help

Neil Henderson

The community spirit of volunteers young and old in Kinglassie has helped bring some comfort to homeless people in Fife.

Fife woman Catherine Sala-Murray was prompted to launch Rough Sleeper Mission after seeing a negative viral post online which said that people who shared their fundraising efforts to help the homeless on Facebook were only “feeding” their ego.

Volunteer Kaydi Hutchinson.

Catherine, who is behind the Kat’s Mission fundraising page on Facebook, was determined to prove that claim wrong – and the result was a groundswell of support that led to more than 2000 items being collected.

And, with a band of volunteers, these were put together to make 100 ‘care bags’, which will be given to homeless people who use the James Bank Hostel in Dunfermline.

“What an amazing positive to have snowballed from such a sad negative,” Catherine said.

“Hopefully this will inspire others, especially the kids, into doing fundraising in the future.”

Around 2300 items for the 'care bags' were donated.

Youngsters and parents from Glenrothes, Kinglassie, Kirkcaldy and Cardenden volunteered their help to make it a success.

And there was also a serious aspect to the event with volunteers being given a talk from one previously homeless person about the issues surrounding homelessness and how their efforts would directly help those currently suffering hardship.

“It’s been a real eye opener for all of us,” said Catherine.

“It’s important for the children to learn about the issues around homelessness, it’s been very beneficial.”

A great effort by the volunteers.

To know more about the efforts being made to support charities in Fife and how you can get involved, got to the Kats Mission (Fundraiser) Facebook page.